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Episode Tinarah: Part 19
Last Stand
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The routine was the same over the weeks that followed. Occasionally the man, who had given his name as Gero, made conversation with Tinarah and pointed her in the direction in which she would be able to find her own inner strength. But the old man was tired and malnourished so he often slept more than he spoke.

Tinarah did her best facing her new resolve. She wanted to turn her fear into something useful, but the battle was not easily won. Tinarah would often share whatever she thought she could toss over to Gero, mostly bread, unable to offer much else. As time went on however Tinarah realized meditation was not enough to change her heart. It was one thing to say she would do something g different, another to actually do it.

During her time in prison she never finished a meal brought to her, and it was starting to show. In the last week or she had begun refusing to eat anything. She wanted to draw Torrin down, face her fear and see if she could, or at least die trying. It had been over a month, if her keyblade hadn't come by now through meditation, it never would.

That day when meal time had come the guard did not show up. An hour passed without the usual guard coming strolling in. And then, the dungeon's door creaked open and footsteps approached.

"So what's this I hear about you not eating?" Torrin had arrived, adjusting the gloves on his hands while he spoke casually towards Tinarah. They were bloodied. No doubt he had seen battle recently but other than that his clothes were completely pristine. "I suppose anyone would grow tired of the same meal day after day but beggars can't be choosers." He sniffed the air and shook his head. "Perhaps you could do with a bath. Prison life does not suit you but this was the only way I could keep you out of my hair until the war was over. A war that, by the way, is going well. Thallasa and Chrys have been taken care of and now all that's left is to round up the last of the resistance. Once that's over...well, I have plans for you."

Tinarah was sitting in her cell. She had not noticed the time difference when the door opened. She had really lost track of time since being down there. When the door opened, she tried to sit quietly and meditate like she had been to avoid looking at the guards, but the voice that spoke to her, wasn't the guards. Tinarah's heart pounded as she tried to keep control before opening her eyes, forcing herself to stare directly at Torrin, silent at first. Tinarah didn't trust her voice not to give away her fear, but eventually she had to get over it.

"Your plans won't work if I die first." Tinarah spoke softly, but honestly to Torrin. She refused to turn her gaze away, even if she wanted to turn around and cower in a corner. She was afraid of the punishment for her actions, but she would face it, because she couldn't let him use her. She was more afraid of what he would do to her than of death and that is what she used to get her to keep staring Torrin down. She had done this to help her face her fear, now she had to do it, or starving herself was for nothing.

Torrin blinked upon hearing the defiance in Tinarah's voice. "Ah...I see." He leaned closer, placing his hands on the bars of the cell, his yellow eyes gazing at her intently. A small smile began to form on his lips. "Allowing you to starve yourself out would be far too easy." He looked down at the melted lock of the cell then towards Tinarah. "Mind if I..."

In an instant he was now standing in front of her no longer separated between bars of metal. "Come in?" He finished his sentence, now staring down at the girl before him.


A small "eep" Escaped Tinarah's lips as Torrin entered her cell. She scooted back a little bit as she looked at him. She tried to stand up to face him at least, she didn't like feeling so small, but as she started to get her feet under her, her vision went black, her head spinning, likely a side effect of not eating for several days. Tinarah eased herself back into a more comfortable position. Her eyes darted around the cell and then back to Torrin, swallowing hard. She didn't talk this time, she knew better, but she kept her eyes on him. I won't let him defeat me. I promise. He doesn't own me, he doesn't own my fear. I can control it. Just... don't look away.

He tilted his head and frowned on seeing Tinarah's reaction to his little parlor trick. "So that's how it is, huh? Thought you were going to be more feisty than that. A bit of a let down, really." He stepped closer and grabbed Tinarah by her arm to force her onto her feet. "But I suppose that just about sums you up, doesn't it? You're nothing but a product of failures."

"But I can fix that. I've grown tired of waiting anyway." His grip on her arm tightened and with his free hand a dark orb formed and shot out blasting the door out from its hinges.


Torrin grabbed Tinarah and she was ready to fight. He pulled her to her feet and Tinarah knew that this was it, it was likely the last chance she got. If things go further like this there wasn't much chance for her. She still had some energy now, but it was quickly draining. As his grip tightened, Tinarah went to her natural reaction and tried to pull back. When he didn't let go she went to stop on his foot. "I am not letting you take my light! I won't let you take that part of me." Tinarah struggled against him far more than when he was throwing him in here.

"Last chance" Tinarah thought to herself as her free hand gripped the air. "please" She dug deep into her heart looking for the place that was locked away long ago. Suddenly a warm metal object appeared in her hand. It was silver with a heart shaped blade at the end. This one was hers. She let the fear of what Torrin was going to do to her drive her as she took the object in her hand and brought it around at Torrins legs, trying to knock him off his feet as she pulled away once more. As soon as he let go she took a leaf out of his book as she cast Blizzard at him. Turning she stumbled slightly as she made her way out of the cell, turning towards Gero's and pointing her keyblade at it. Hopefully she could free him and maybe they stood a chance at escaping.

"What!? How?!" Torrin growled in pain, surprised by Tinarah's sudden attack. Her Blizzard spell caused him to smash into the wall, freezing his torso against it. "Damn you!" There was a click heard from the cell where the old man had been kept. She had unlocked Gero's cell.

"You can't get away. I won't let you escape my grasp!" Even as he shouted the old man stepped out from his cell and took hold of Tinarah's hand, the hand that held her newly regained keyblade.

"You hold nothing over this young woman." Gero's condition seemed to be worse than Tinarah's but even still he seemed to have no trouble standing. "Are you ready to leave this place, Tinarah?"


Tinarah was actually surprised that her attacks worked, but she managed to buy herself enough time for Gero to get out of his cell. Torrin was still yelling at her and part of her heart believed they wouldn't get far, but she had to try. She locked eyes with Gero as he spoke, they would do their best. "Yes... And if we can't make it... Gero, I want you to put an end to me before he can turn me into something other than myself." Tinarah didn't know how they would get away. Neither of them were in great shape and Tinarah didn't know if her spell would hold for long, but she put some trust into Gero, ready for him to help lead her out.

"None of that will be necessary." Gero spoke as he lifted her hand to point her keyblade down the hall. A beam of light shot out from it opening a shimmering rift that was unlike any portal or light or darkness Tinarah had ever seen. Gero staggered forward and lost his footing, losing his breath from the effort of using his magic through her keyblade. "It...it is done..."

"It doesn't matter how far you go or whatever realm you hide in! I will find you!"

"Come...before it closes. I do not have the strength to do this again."

Tinarah gave a slight nod, not quite convinced with what he was saying but went with it anyways. However as he lifted her hand that held the keyblade, something happened, almost like he was channeling his magic through her keyblade, creating a portal at the end of the hall. When it was done however he seemed to be struggling to walk. Tinarah draped his arm over her shoulder, knowing she wouldn't be able to support him for long, but unwilling to leave him behind.

"If you manage to find me again, I will be ready. You won't take me again." Tinarah said softly before turning to the portal and helping Gero get through it as quick as possible while supporting him in the state she already was in.

The two walked through the portal, leaving behind the realm in which the two had been trapped in for years. Gero's weight pressed on Tinarah as he began to lose consciousness. The area they found themselves in appeared to be a tunnel of some kind surrounded in an ethereal gray energy. Behind them was a dull red glow representing the realm they had exited and up ahead were streams of light and darkness emanating from the other end.

After having not taken more than just a few steps forward a voice called out behind them. "Wait."

Spoiler

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"You're...leaving me? I gave my life for yours and you're just going to leave..?"

Tinarah stepped through the portal, the area they entered was a strange one, and with Gero's weight mostly on her, it was hard to continue walking, but the light ahead beckoned her. She hardly made it more than a few steps when a voice called out to her, and Tinarah turned to face the boy. He looked the exact same since the last time she had seen him. "I-I have to. I am sorry A, if I could have stayed with Master Stamatis and trained longer, I would have. But I don't belong here. There are dangers in my own realm that I need to help with. I don't wish your sacrifice to be without cause, and perhaps... perhaps once my own realm is safe, I can return and help yours, but this is the only way to keep what is mine. He wanted to take away my light, and I couldn't let that happen. I have to leave. I am sorry A. I will see you again." Tinarah spoke the the boy, grief filled her voice but there was a resolve there as well as she turned back to the light and pressed on once more, she couldn't give herself time for the weight of Gero to wear on her enough that she didn't make it out. She would get them out... then... then she could rest.

"But Tinarah...please..." The boy reappeared in front of her, his eyes watery and his cheeks tear-stained. "Don't leave me." He pleaded.

"Do not listen to him..." Gero spoke, his eyes briefly catching sight of A. "He...he's..."

"You!" The boy growled, a golden aura flaring up around him. A keyblade materialized in his hand. "Don't listen to the old man! He's the one who started this! He wants to take you away from me!"

A appeared in front of her and Tinarah started to wonder what in the world was going on here. "A... I am sorry." Tinarah tried to tell him when Gero spoke up and A got defensive. "He isn't the one who sent me here. A... listen.... he was going to hurt me. Torrin was going to hurt me. It is the only way I can be safe. If I stayed I would be no help to anyone. This way I can come back and help. And I will come back, I promise." Tinarah tried to argue walking towards the exit again. If she was forced to stop once more, Tinarah wondered if she would be able to push on again, she could already feel her knees shake.

"No...don't leave me..." A's voice began to grow more distant as Tinarah pushed onward. The two were nearly upon the end of the tunnel. Everything that had tormented Tinarah would be left behind, trapped in another realm.

Tinarah knew better than to think the boy in front of her was actually A. She knew he died the day Fost rescued her, so for him to be here was impossible. That being said Tinarah still felt guilty for leaving. Not only had A sacrificed himself, but but Fost and Stamatis had sacrificed so much for her. She owed them a lot but couldn't show her gratitude from another time and realm. That being said she couldn't do anything if of she had been made into a puppet of Torrins.

Stopping Tinarah turned back to the boy one last time, repeating herself once more. "I promise I will be back. All the sacrifices for me... You... Mika... Fost and Stamatis, they won't be for nothing. I will grow stronger and learn to bring myself back there. I will finish my training with Master Stamatis. I will warn them, they can stop Torrin before he becomes too powerful. Things will be right and... Perhaps I will remain there, if allowed. But I can't do anything as long as Torrin has me. This is the only escape for us. Besides... I have to get Gero home. I have to save him... I couldn't save anyone else but maybe..." A wave of dizziness hit Tinarah and she almost dropped Gero. Tinarah struggled to stay standing for a moment.

"Come, let's get you home. We are almost there." It was difficult, Tinarah was barely shuffling forward, but they started moving again. The light at the end of a tunnel. A home that she stopped believing was her home. And her brother waited their. She still didn't know what to think of him, still believed he tried to kill her, but at least he wouldn't be a dark creature enslaved to Torrin. Her heart ached at the thought of all she would have to face on that side, but as the dizziness from before refused to subside, she knew she didn't have time to hesitate. With one last push onward, Tinarah stepped into the light, Gero at her side.

The Chieftain showed them the rash that he was developing, and Everette shifted uncomfortably, looking at his companions. He couldn't believe that Samuel actually wanted to be in there to study and rest between healings. It made Everette a little uncomfortable and worried. It just meant that they had to get things done fast. Samuel could handle himself, but consistently being that close to the sick, Everette worried about something happening to his best friend. "I think you are on to a good idea Conrad, perhaps we should go look at some of the common things and grab samples. I honestly don't know how much we can help with studying patience and knowing what is going on, but I think I can manage collecting stuff." Everette suggested giving Conrad a bit of an encouraging smile.

"Just point us in the right direction and we will get to work. I would like to see both the well, and the place you hold rain water, as well crops and store houses. Take small samples from there and then we can meet back and take a closer look at them perhaps. See if we can figure out what is causing this before it gets worse." Everette suggested. Perhaps he and Conrad should split up and look. Conrad after all was a reliable member of the guild and if he did run into trouble, Everette didn't think he would be too reckless about it.


They were quickly ushered to keep moving and Thea followed, still sticking pretty close to Zephyr not liking it when people gave her weird looks. She knew she was young for being in a guild, but a lot of people hid their surprise better than this. Thea could deal with it however, even if it was annoying, and was a bit relieved when Maliel announced they had arrived. The house they arrived at however didn't feel the most welcoming, and Thea was not a fan of the crows that were on the gate. Shifting a bit uncomfortably, she walked passed and waited for Maliel to gain the entrance to see the mayor.

Once inside, Thea calmed down a little bit. When the door to the office opened however she was a bit taken aback by the bear skin carpet. Thea wrinkled her nose a it as she made a point to step far around it's head, taking a place close to the fire instead. She folded her hands behind her back, calling small flames to come from the fire, just touching her fingers, but not burning them, not when she was in control of the fire. "Nice to meet you Mister Mayor Sir. Yes she has. It is horrible. But don't worry, us, from the Divine Rose guild will handle it no problem." As The started to get a bit excited, the flame she was playing with behind her back flared a little bit. ​

Episode Tinarah: Episode 18
The Darkest Dungeon
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Early the next morning Tinarah would have heard the sound of a guard stepping down into the dungeon to carefully place Tinarah a tray of fresh-basked bread and some hot stew for her to eat. The steps continued down a little farther into the dungeon to the cell placed in the darkest corner of the dungeon. The guard nonchalantly dropped a half-eaten piece of bread onto the floor and chuckled before leaving, sealing the exit shut behind him. An aged hand reached out to grasp the bread and slowly pulled the food within the cell.

Tinarah had spent most of the night crying, however by the morning there was some sort of peace in a way. "I said I wanted to fight because you guys did. I didn't realized I was on the wrong side. Would it be too late to change?" Tinarah touched her necklace softly. It might have seemed like a silly question, but Tinarah didn't want to just sit around and do nothing, not anymore. She had enough of crying that she needed to do something.

By the time the guards dropped off food for her, Tinarah was meditating. Every now and then as she breathed in she tried to summon her own keyblade, when it didn't work, she tried to relax a bit. Tinarah knew that she couldn't panic anymore but was finding it hard the longer she was in the dark. "Stamatis, give me strength." The only reason that Tinarah bothered to touch her food was that if she wanted to go forward and finish whatever short life she had left in a way that would make Stamatis and Fost proud, she was not going to starve herself like when she had first arrived.

Even as she ate, she saw there was another prisoner at the end of the hall, reaching for half eaten bread. Clearly she was getting special treatment, which brought Tinarah to wonder, why did Torrin want her. Clearly he didn't bring her out of that war because of Mika, not when he was so willing to kill Mika and keep her, so why was she here? Tinarah's panic started to set in again, her appetite lessening as she pushed her half eaten bowl of stew away. Maybe... maybe she couldn't be as strong as she wanted

Another day passes...​

The guard ignored Tinarah once again as her plate was replaced with fresh food and drink. This day the other occupant from the corner cell did not receive food. Tinarah could hear the other prisoner cough. "Another day, perhaps." Came a weak voice from the cell. The voice belonged to an elderly man but in the darkness Tinarah could not perceive any of his features.

Everything told Tinarah she should be thankful for the food she was getting, eat everything provided. However as meal time came around and meditation was failing her, Tinarah sat in the dark staring at her food. She had only half her meal the day before, and yet, she still didn't want to eat. Tinarah took one bite of stew, not really wanting to eat, but was forcing herself, when she heard a voice in the silence. Slowly crawling towards the bars of her cell, she peered out and down the short hall, noticing no food was dropped that day. Tinarah looked back at the bread she had received, then grabbed all that was there.

"H-here.... I am not hungry." She said a little scared of getting in trouble but tossing the bread as close to his cell as she could possibly get it. Tinarah had no desire to interact with the other prisoners, but he was suffering it seemed, and she couldn't just not do anything, especially when she couldn't even eat all the food provided.

"Thank you child..." The man whispered, taking the bread that was just within his reach. A set of brown eyes flashed in the darkness as they looked upon Tinarah. "You...you are not from this world are you?" He spoke once more, inching closer towards the cell door so that his outline was just barely visible. "No...you are not from this time either? Or this realm..."

"I never imagined he would bring anyone to this realm of pain..." The old man trailed off and went silent as he began to eat his bread.

With the man's eyes on her, Tinarah backed away from the door, uncomfortable. Though the things he was saying caught her attention. "N-no I am not from this time... I have been displaced from my own time for quite a while now..." Tinarah offered, not going into detail, but however be was telling that something was off about her, perhaps that information would be helpful. "What do you mean realm. Masters Stamatis talked about other time periods like where I was from but not other realms. How would I end up in another realm." Panic laced Tinarahs voice as she questioned what had happened to her.

"Who.... Who brought me here? The spell Stamatis helped me with was supposed to bring me to my own time. How did I end up here." Tinarah peered at the man through the darkness trying to figure out who he was, if she should know, though in the darkness of the dungeon there was no telling.

"Displaced from your own time for quite a while, eh?" The old man nodded and gulped loudly as he swallowed his bread. "It sounds like you've met this realm's Stamatis...I suppose your journey to this point has been quite different than my own..." The old man reached his hand out of his cell as if grasping for something beyond his reach. "I cannot age, nor can I summon my key in this place...such is my curse." He withdrew his hand.

"I cannot fathom why a child such as yourself would be placed here but my being here is a result of my failures as a master." He sighed. "This is my punishment."

"This realms Stamatis?" Tinarah started to worry. "Does that mean Uncle Fost.... Master Stamatis.... They wouldn't be waiting for me in my own time? If I am not from this realm?" Tinarah asked as she watched him try and fail to summon a keyblade. She in turn did the same, stretching her hand in front of her trying to will her keyblade to come to her.

"I- I don't fully understand how I got here myself but... I think it had to do with a man called the Light Chaser. He was supposed to send me back to my brother, but for some reason my brother tried to kill me and it started a series of strange events. I couldn't summon my keyblade. It took nearly two years of training with Stamatis to get it back and almost three more to be strong enough to send myself home... But I ended up here instead. When Mika tried to free me...." Tinarah was nearly choking on her words as tears ran anew. "Torrin shattered my keyblade and killed Mika... Now here I am... I guess it doesn't matter if the Stamatis and Fost of my realm remember me... I am never getting back, am I?"

"Perhaps they might not remember you but the bonds of the heart are stronger than the links made from memories." The man responded. "But the Light Chaser is not a name that is familiar to me...perhaps my former student and this Light Chaser are one and the same. Or perhaps they are not..." He paused for a moment, a wrinkled hand gripping onto one of the cell's bars.

"You say your keyblade was broken? Sure you've been taught better to know that a keyblade can never truly be destroyed. Unless...." He scratched his chin. "Was the blade not yours? If it belonged to another that would explain why you cannot call upon it now. What happened to your own keyblade, child? With it we could be free of this place."

"I wouldn't be able to say. I never truly understood what was happening. I know one of his students took me to him, and despite the fact that we were trying to stop him, he seemed nice. He healed me, but he had my friend as well. He was going to let me go and no her... I promised to bring help... But never had the chance." The entire story really meant nothing, she had only started to tell what she knew of the Light Chaser, which wasn't much.

"The blade... It was my brothers. After my brother threw me off a bridge I was unable to summon it. I don't know why, but it has never returned. I have been using a borrowed blade for years." Tinarah admitted almost sounding ashamed of that fact.

"I see...the from the sound of it, your heart was too weak to call your own keyblade." He simply stated. "From the moment you were allowed to leave, you were made to enter this realm. I place I have had to endure for many years as its prisoner." His voice grew dry and weary. "Determination is not something that can be taught. It is found from within. Unless you can summon the resolve to call your own blade, you will have to resign to your fate." The man spoke grimly.

"But I have been trying! For a while Chrono's was the best I got, but.... I have been trying, since his broke I tried to use Master Stamatis' techniques for meditation and trying to call it to me when I can... But... Calming the mind is hard when someone wants to purge your light and use you for something important enough he is willing to kill his wife... " Tinarah said what had been distracting her from her meditation. "The keyblade first came to me when I needed it most but was too weak to know how to use. Now that I know how I can't summon it. I don't think it was ever my Destiny to wield it, but I tried, and I will keep trying, but at this rate... Who know what will happen to me by the time I learn to use it."

"If it was not your destiny to wield it then why not simply change your destiny? Your efforts have been in vain because somewhere in your heart you have already given up." The man moved back farther into his cell, disappearing into the shadows. "Meditate if you wish. But know that the keyblade will only respond to a strong heart. There is no other way. There are no shortcuts and no amount of pleading will change this."

After five years of failure, it was hard not to have lost hope in it. Tinarah didn't even know what it meant to have a strong heart, what she needed to do. It seemed as though nothing she had tried was good enough and the only thing still pushing her to try was fear. She watched as the man moved into the shadows, it seemed as though he was done talking. Tinarah pushed her bowl of stew aside, once more hardly eating. Moving back in her cell herself she tried to meditate again. It occurred to her the only time she wasn't driven by fear to get her keyblade back she had given up. She either fell into depression or she accepted her fate. It was near impossible to forget her fear, she didn't think it would be natural not to fear her fate in this place. But perhaps she should take what Torrin told her to do and make it her own. He had wanted her to get angry and turn that anger into something useful, but what if she learned to turn her fear into a goal. It wasn't going to be easy, but given the situation she had time to teach herself.

Forty days and forty nights pass...​

The video has been completed and posted. Find it here!

It was a strange feeling. One moment he was fighting for his life on a boat, and the next, forest. What happened between was rather foggy, but looking around there was the man who had captured him, and the man who had helped him. Looking down he was still chained. Something told Aaron this wasn't to do with the weather mage beside him, not when there was a so called, new owner who had been waiting on the dock for him before Aaron tried to escape. So then what was going on?

Picking himself up Aaron studied the chains on his wrists still. He had no weapons thanks to the whole, being held prisoner thing and there was enough of a rumble in his necklace to know that they wouldn't be safe for long. This forest, he didn't know exactly where ti was but he got a feeling it would be the type of place he would usually get contracts for, it was a place he best be prepared in, and he wasn't.

"You guys might want to be on your guard. I don't think we will be alone for long." Aaron warned the other two as he glanced around trying to figure out something, anything to use as a weapon until he could manage to get his hands on a sword, any old sword. His silver sword would have to wait. ​

Well it wasn't a formal invite, but it was good enough. After one last swig, Lucian put the bottle of booze back in the drawer where Kara hid it before he exited the room, sauntering down the stairs. Lucian's metal eye seemed to be focusing in on the man at the bottom, the one Kara was likely talking it. Lucian had a sneaking suspicion that he wouldn't like this guy, but then again that could make things interesting. Besides whatever operation he was running here might be interesting. It wasn't that Lucian wanted to take part, it was that gathering some details about it might help him keep his real job after he walked out on it earlier that day.

"Hi, I am the guy that hits stuff." Lucian sounded a bit unimpressed as he stated what Kara had used to explain him. He then glanced down at his swords at his side. "I can also stab and slash stuff." He added. Without his Constabulary jacket he hoped that Dylan wouldn't know who he was, not that it mattered that much but the Constabulary wasn't always welcome around certain people, and while Kara clearly knew, she hadn't said anything yet so he hoped that was a good sign. "So why am I needed to 'hit things?'" The shirtless male asked crossing his arms, taking time to take in the rest of the house, letting the metal eye do most of the work given his mind was a little fuzzy from the alcohol.​

You trusted me, so I'll trust you too. That's what being friends means, doesn't it?

As they climbed Daeni offered him a rope and Cerdic shook his head. "No way! I can do it. I am not going to be shown up by two little girls." It was a pride thing, but the way Cerdic spoke there was a bit a laugh with his words, clearly not trying to offend Daeni or Mora, he just didn't want to be that one guy that needed help. He wasn't that pathetic after all he could do some stuff on his own, and he would prove it.

Scaling the cliff was difficult, but he was managing, when he heard Mora yell at them to hurry up, looking up he saw what seemed to be another form of heartless at the top. "Hang on kid. I will be there in a second." He assured her, finally grabbing onto the fabric that Daeni offered earlier to help him speed up his climb and get to the top faster. When they were both at the top he paused for a moment ruffling Daeni's hair. "Thanks for the hand, now time to pay it forward."

Summoning his keyblade back to him Cerdic faced the heartless near the edge of the cliff, stepping in front of Mora a bit. "Stay behind me with Daeni, we got this." He stated as he stepped out stashing at a couple of the heartless as they seemed to divide into more. He was going to need some help, but he could hold them back for the time being, buying time to make sure Chrys got Kara out of there safely before this darkness found them as well. ​

"That would be nice." Everette responded to the girl offering to go get them the Chief. In the end it turned out there was no need for such things, as he had come out to check on the girl himself, asking her to go deliver the water while they spoke. "It was nice meeting you too Renza." Everette echoed the name that he had heard the Chief call the small child. Smiling he watched her run inside before turning back to the man.

The man explained the situation, but Everette was still left wondering about how him and the child were in with the sick people but weren't getting sick themselves. Perhaps the Chief had a good immune system, but the child? "We need to figure out the source of the illness before we can actually do too much to help. Samuel here specializes in healing magic, but unless we find the source we can't guarantee that it will stay away if he manages to heal it." Everette explained. "Though I have noticed that you and Renza don't seem to be sick but you are around those who are, caring for them. Is there any reason you can think of why you don't get sick? If it is so far spread you would think it would be passed on through a simple means, airborne, even just contact with others. But you two are doing that already. Is there anything you do differently?" There was no use just pondering this to himself, it was much more efficient to ask up front than to make vague promises to look in to it without having a starting place.


Zephyr questioned Thea on her own attendance of school and Thea shrugged. "I had private tutors. Though they never did stick around long. Sometimes their face turned funny shades of red when I told them I accidentally burnt my homework. They never believed me and would yell, so daddy would fire them.... or... well I might have accidentally burnt one. She wasn't happy. But she was being so loud and I didn't like it. I was just trying to get her to calm down." Thea explained. With her powers the way they were her parents couldn't afford the risk of sending her to an actual school.

The teen stopped and explained to them about why they kept the kids there. At least the children seemed happy from what she could tell, so Thea wasn't too worried about it. "If you on'y hear the flute at night, couldn't they go out during the day? Would that be dangerous too?" Thea didn't even think about the fact that she was just in the age range that the flute effected. They would take care of the situation before it was an issue she was sure of it.
​

Episode Tinarah: Part 17
It Ends Here
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"Torrin wait! We don't need to do this to her. It's Tinarah." Mikaela spun around, her eyes darting around and panicked.

"All the more reason to cleanse her of the light within her." He stepped forward towards them and Mikaela stepped back motioning for Tinarah to stay behind her. Torrin shook his head and looked down. "So it's treason, then..." A dark energy swirled around his left hand. "I've been too soft on you it seems. I can't trust you anymore, can I?" As he spoke the darkness in his hand began to coalesce.

"Torrin please!"

"You've proven yourself to be disloyal. I cannot stand for that. Even from you." Out of the darkness came his keyblade.

As she thought about Torrin finding them, the fear came true. His voice rang out and Mika pushed her behind to protect her, begging Torrin to stop. If course Torrin didn't, instead speaking about why he needed to cleanse her of the light. Things were quickly turning bad, she could tell Mika loved Torrin, she couldn't let her be the cause of any happiness they had, even if she didn't agree with what they were doing, Tnarah was convinced that they were mislead, that something happened that caused them not to see clearly. She wouldn't stand by and let someone else destroy their life for her. As Torrin summoned his keyblade, Tinarah pushed in front of Mika.

"Don't do this to her. It isn't her fault, she just wanted to help. Mika is a good person and you know that, you love that about her, don't you? Don't punish her for it." Tinarah begged as she summoned her keyblade, or rather Chrono's to her side ready to protect Mika. "Please, don't hurt her. Let me leave and I won't bother you again. Just don't hurt Mika." Tinarah had trained enough with Torrin to know where her own strength ended, and knew how he could best her with a sword, she didn't think a keyblade would go any better, still she had to at least try.

"You're acting awfully brave for someone so weak." Torrin stated, raising an eyebrow when Tinarah stepped forward. He continued to approach them making no sign of reconsidering his actions.

Tinarah was trembling. She knew she was weak and didn't stand a chance, but she couldn't let him hurt her friend, not after Mika was just trying to help her. She wasn't going to watch a friend get hurt for her, she couldn't. Lifting her free hand to her necklace, she touched it lightly. "I'm scared, Master Stamatis, lend me strength." She whispered before gripping her keyblade with both hands and moving into a fighting stance.

Torrin was coming closer now. "Are you...are you asking for someone else's help? No wonder you've been so weak. You can't even rely on yourself." He aimed his keyblade at Tinarah. "Don't worry. I have other plans for you. Even if I have to beat you into the ground you'll still be breathing by the end of this. But it won't come to that. You don't have that much fight in you." He lowered the aim of his blade slightly and immediately a Blizzard spell launched at her legs, Torrin intending to freeze Tinarah in place.

As the keyblade was aimed at her, Tinarah tried to move quickly, just barely getting out of the way of the spell. Tinarah turned around and then cast a fire spell at Torrin before turning around and slashing at him quickly. Tinarah hoped it would be enough for Torrin to back up. It was clear that she was still a little out of it from being knocked out and locked up. She hadn't eaten for over a day either so she was not in good shape to fight, still she had to try, even if it was just barely an attempt she wasn't going down without a fight.

Torrin caught the fire spell with his bare hand, appearing to be unfazed by the magic as it blasted outwards as if hitting a wall. "As I said," Torrin spoke as he spun his keyblade to parry Tinarah's. "You're weak!" He swung his blade downwards, streams of darkness swirling about his blade as he attacked and when it collided with Tinarah's borrowed keyblade, a sound akin to glass shattering pierced the air. Her keyblade was broken and disappeared from her grasp.

Torrin shoved Tinarah down towards the ground with his free hand and shook his head. "Maybe if you had been a worthy opponent I would have granted you the release of death."

​

Mikaela stepped back but did not run, too frightened to do anything. "Stay still, this will be over in an instant. I will give you at least that much despite your betrayal." Mikaela opened her mouth to respond to Torrin, possibly to plea for him to stop but it was too late. She fell to the ground clutching a bloodied chest. Torrin's keyblade disappeared from his hand.

"Farewell, Mika."

Everything she did had no effect, Torrin was too strong and simply dealt with her attacks like they were child's play. The training that she had done with Stamatis was for nothing. Torrin turned around and swung his keyblade at her, screaming something she already knew as his keyblade collided with Chrono's, shattering it. Tinarah was left stunned by the shear power that it took to do such a thing as he shoved her to the ground. Tinarah was at a loss for words or strength to fight back. She was helpless.

Torrin turned his attention to Mika and at first the words he said didn't click, not until he said farewell. Tinarah looked up to see Mika clutching her chest. "Mika! No!" She screamed suddenly trying to struggle her way out from Torrin's grasp. "Why...." Her voice came back barely a rasp as tears streaked down her face, soon giving up her struggles. There was no point in trying and she could see that, she was hopeless.

Torrin closed his eyes for a long moment and sighed. He made his peace with what had to be done but that did not make it hurt any less. He looked down at Tinarah. "You wanted no more lies, did you? Well," He began to drag Tinarah by her collar, ignoring her squirming before continuing to speak, "Those experiments of mine? They were successful...but only after the first year of trials. Take challenged me and, for some reason, could not survive the attempt to remove the light from his heart. Illiana and Koa survived but...they weren't themselves afterward. They had to be put down. And Chrono? Well..." He stopped. Torrin looked to the sky and whistled.

"It's time you learned your place, Tinarah. You're weak but perhaps by removing your light I can remove that weakness. Maybe then you will be...serviceable. So I suppose it's time you reunite with your brother." The sound of leathery wings flapping could be heard overhead. "Come here Chrono!" In a blur of black something landed in front of them. It was a hooded figure.

"Ss..." It hissed. "Errr..." It slowly began to rise, stretching its wings. Glowing yellow eyes illuminated its black skin. "Sisss...terrrr..." The Heartless spoke through broken language.

"These...things are called Darklings. A little more intelligent than Heartless. More...loyal to those of the dark such as myself. I would have preferred Chrono to retain his human form but this...this I can live with."

Tinarah didn't fight back and Torrin dragged her like some sort of broken doll. She felt empty inside, unable to react at all as he started to speak of what he was doing, what the experiments were. "Y-you killed your friends... your wife..." She whispered, unable to complete the thought as he whistled. Illiana, Koa, he said they survived, he didn't mention he killed them after. Chrono... what did he do to her brother? Tinarah thought she had stopped caring about him years ago, but now, she couldn't help but worry.

The sound of wings echoed around them and soon a heartless like creature came for them. It was speaking and Torrin claimed it to be her brother. That was not her brother, even as it called her sister. Tinarah looked away from the creature, the thing. This wasn't Chrono, he wouldn't have wanted that, he was probably suffering somewhere in there, but unable to summon a broken keyblade she could not do anything about it.

"So that's it? You are going to turn me into one of those?" Tinarah sounded broken, defeated. "Is that, worth the cost of your wife's life?" Tinarah almost hoped that he would kill her at this point, she would rather that then to be turned into one of those creatures that stood in front of her.

"Friends would not have betrayed me. A good wife would not have disobeyed me." Torrin yanked Tinarah to her feet, holding her up by her collar if he had to. "I'm not turning you into a Darkling. No, you'll still hold that pretty little frame of yours instead of that wretched thing."

"Sissssss...ter!" The Darkling croaked.

"I don't see any use for you as a fighter. No...I think I'll keep you locked in your cell until I have use of you in...another capacity."

Betrayed him? Tinarah had a feeling it was Torrin who had betrayed everyone else. There was no point in speaking up about that though, he would never accept that as an answer. Torrin yanked at Tinarah's collar, lifting her to her feet. Tinarah struggled to get her feet under her as she started coughing at the sudden pressure on her throat. Her knees shook and she sagged against his grip trying to catch her breath, even though his grip on her collar and her posture made it harder to breath, than it would be if she managed to stand up straight.

He wasn't going to turn her into the creature he turned her brother into, but Tinarah was frightened what he meant by "another capacity." "Please..." She pleaded with him even though she knew that it wouldn't get her anywhere. Closing her eyes she sagged fully against Torrins grasp, not even trying, at least it would make things a little harder on him, even if it was harder on her as well. If she couldn't fight, she certainly wouldn't make things easy either.

Torrin dragged Tinarah back towards the mansion, ignoring her pleas. He did not even speak to her as he did so, treating her no better than a rag doll. Eventually they returned to the dungeon where Torrin shoved her into a cell and sealed the door shut. He melted the lock shut with magic, his eyes glowing yellow in the darkness. He gazed at Tinarah for a brief moment and turned away, his red cloak whipping about as he left the girl alone in the darkness.

As Torrin dragged Tinarah, she didn't put up much of a fight, occasionally lashing out in attempts to catch Torrin off guard. Maybe if she managed to, then she would be able to run. It wasn't much of a chance that she could outrun him, especially when she didn't know where to go, and he was in his own element, but it was better than doing nothing. Unfortunately for Tinarah Torrin was much stronger than her, barely taking much in order to keep her in line. He dragged her back to the cell, and by the time they arrived and Tinarah was tossed in, she was sucking in breaths trying to breath properly. The force on her neck from being dragged by the collar had left her out of breath.

As she sat there Tinarah looked up when she heard the sound of something happening. She saw Torrin staring in at her as he finished whatever he was doing. The yellow eye were what scared her the most. Fear struck her deep in the heart before Torrin turned around to leave. Left in silence Tinarah brought her knees up to her chest, and rested her head on her knees as she began to sob. In the back of her mind she was apologizing to Stamatis and Fost for her foolishness, but the words couldn't seem to make it out of her mouth, just a sobbing, gasping sound.

One day passes...​

Episode Tinarah: Part 16
The Great Escape
​

The screech from a swinging metal door would have been enough to wake Tinarah. She would find herself laying on a mattress on a stone floor in a dimly lit cell. The squeaking of the door echoed against the walls as the door shut closed. Mikaela was standing over Tinarah with her eyes reddened and puffy. She had been crying. "Why? Why did you do it?" She whispered. "You could have had a good home here..."

Torrin turned to her and Tinarah knew she made a mistake questioning him as she did. Pain echoed through her and everything fell black, Tinarah's hand falling from her necklace as she passed out.

As Tinarah came to consciousness, the screech of metal pounded in her head, hurting as she slowly sat up. Mika was standing over her and speaking. It took a moment for Tinarah to figure out what she was saying. "I... I needed to know. I though we were returning the balance.... I... you tricked me. You both... Just... just leave me! Why did you have to lie like that!" Tinarah asked trying to get the answers. She was barely sitting up, her head was still spinning, but she needed to know. Why didn't they tell her that they were removing light from the world, everything good, everything her Master, her Uncle wanted to protect. "How are you okay with this future Mika? How? What about Aria? What about what Master Choma would have wanted?"

"We didn't cause her death! They did!" Mikaela shouted in return. "Choma would have wanted peace! Not death but Torrin's right. We didn't start this war. I wouldn't have changed sides if I didn't believe in this. The darkness isn't evil." Mikaela stared sadly at Tinarah and looked down to the ground. "Torrin even left the field of battle to carry you all the way here so you wouldn't get caught in the crossfire. The only reason you're in a cell is because he didn't want you running out into the dangers out there. His men lost the battle without him. There were no survivors...Our enemies got away and now the war may go one for several more years."

Mikaela sighed and leaned against the cell door. "Even after you became a distraction he sacrificed so much to keep you safe. I don't know why. Maybe for my sake. I...I don't know what comes next but maybe I can get you out of here so you can live away from all of this..."


Tinarah cringed and shied away as Mika yelled. Maybe Choma would have wanted peace, but at the expense of purging all the light? That wasn't balanced, that wasn't right, Tinarah knew better than to just believe that. Mika then continued to talk about how Torrin carried her here and left the battle, letting the so-called rebels escape. Tinarah didn't know how to respond, she felt the weight if the deaths was on her shoulders, she may as well been the one swinging the blade. However part of her still wasn't sure.

"Answer me this.... What experiments? What did Torrin do to our friends?" Tinarah asked softly. Depending on the answer really could make a difference on what help Tinarah was willing to accept. Even know the danger she summoned her keyblade, Chrono's keyblade holding it across her lap, staring at it for the moment. "What did he do to my brother?" she may not have wanted to see Chrono, might have thought he hated her, but she still cared enough to want to know.

Mikaela went quiet and turned around, opening the door. She motioned for Tinarah to follow after her. Without saying a word Mikaela carefully walked forth leading the way out of the dungeon and out onto the mansion grounds in the dead of the night. Along the way Mikaela pickup a lantern to light their path forward.

It worried Tinarah, Mikas silence. Mika opened the door, but Tinarah almost didn't want to go. If it was simply more ways that she had been mislead, more lies revealed or truths hidden, Tinarah almost didn't want to know. At the same time however she had asked and this could be her answer... Or her punishment.

Slowly Tinarah stood, trying to push away the dizziness from her mind. She wrapped her arms around herself as they stepped out into the chilly night air. She didn't know where they were going, nor did she try to ask, it was too much work. Instead she simply followed in silence, and tense wondering of what lay ahead.

Mikaela continued to walk forward in silence, occasionally looking back to make sure Tinarah had not run away. She wrapped an arm around herself in an attempt to keep herself warm. She sighed, her breath visible in the cold night air. "Just...a little farther..." Mikaela whispered when she stopped to lift the lantern higher and look around for where to head to next.

"Just a little more and you can leave..."


Tinarah walked quietly, her head down, following a short distance behind Mika. Tinarah couldn't understand why Mika was being so quiet, didn't know where she was taking her. It was worrisome, but Tinarah didn't really have much of a choice, after all her other option was being left in a dark cell for the foreseeable future. This was not what she had expected when leaving Fost and Stamatis, she didn't understand how her world could be turned so upside down in a matter of a month. It had happened a few times before but she hadn't expected it again. She had expected to walk into something she was a little more prepared for.

"Leave?" Tinarah was now wondering if Mika wasn't answering her question at all but helping her escape, the problem was, she didn't know where to go or what to do, not when everyone she cared for was dead or... this. "And go where?" Tinarah questioned. "... actually, never mind, it doesn't matter." Mika might have been trying to get her out, but she was sure Torrin wouldn't be pleased about it, and thus she couldn't afford to question too much.

"What are you doing?" Torrin's voice rang out in the forest.

Picking through her clothes, Dayla pulled out a dark outfit. It was mostly fabric but there was stiff leather reinforcing the chest, her forearms, her back and parts of her legs. It was designed to allow free movement while still providing some extra protection to the essential area's. "First I drug a guy, then I am doing this, I am not doing too well at laying low tonight. Why in the world did I agree to do this?" She mumbled to herself, pulling the outfit on. She had gotten someone to help her carry the drunk man to a room not long before, and she hoped that he didn't realize what she had done.

Suited up she then strapped two small blades to her side and grabbed her bow. So much for the city elf persona, not too many innocent regular city folk came this well prepared to anything, but she would rather be over prepared then dead. After a quick check of her arrow's Dayla finally strolled out of her room and down stairs to the back of the tavern, where Teliana and Alyse awaited. "So what is the plan? Are we waiting on anyone else?" Dayla asked as she double checked the straps holding her knives and tested her bow string again, clearly not unfamiliar with this sort of preparation for possible combat. ​

​

Lucian snorted a laugh as he listened in to the conversation below. It crossed his mind that maybe he should go down there at some point, but the purple haired one had yet to invite him down, and besides there was booze where he was at. It might be a little unwelcome for him to just go striding downstairs, drink in hand announcing he was there to hit people, as they so graciously put it. At this point though at least he didn't have to be as quiet, they knew he was there, it was just a matter of when to show himself.

Lucian still didn't have a shirt but he looked over to his jacket that lay on Kara's bed. Sauntering over he put it on, quickly deciding it was too itchy and taking it off right after. He made sure his constabulary badge was shoved in his pant pocket and checked the jacket for any other spare items he might need before throwing it back on the bed.If all went well enough he should be allowed to come back and get it after he.... well punched people, so it seemed. ​

​

Mirela looked around in amazement, feeling less out of place in her own slightly greasy work clothing, that she was rarely seen without. It wasn't that Mirela didn't own anything that wasn't stained in grease, it was just that she was more comfortable in her greasy work clothes than the nicer ones she bought for those rare special occasions. Special occasions that she rarely liked to attend.

Lunaji mentioned that Mr Gallahowe was upstairs if she wanted to talk to him and Mirela smiled. "Oh can I really? Is that okay? I would love to talk to him, oh and thank him for the invite of course.... And for paying me a personal visit to my shop. In can't believe that he actually came to my shop. My shop of all places, it isn't even that nice! Oh wow!" Mirela ranted as she moved out of the way of a clock work butler, snagging a little bit of food it was carrying. This place really was a dream come true for her. ​

​

Mora unlocked the door for them and Cerdic stared out at the beach beyond. It was beautiful. He found himself staring for a moment, enjoying the view, almost forgetting about the dire situation that was before them. As Kara got ready to run however he snapped his mind back in place and focused himself again. "Good luck you two. Stay safe. We will handle things here." He gave a small salute to the two that were heading for an escape. He knew that they needed to go and wouldn't question it at all as they turned to listen to the rest of Mora's instructions as they began to run.

Running against the cliff, he was given permission to use his keyblade amour, and Cerdic was certainly not giving up his chance to show off. Giving a wink to Alder he laughed. "Bet you can't do this." He taunted as he hit his belt buckle and a flash of light enveloped him. Suddenly grey keyblade amour fit his body as even his face was hidden from view. "Climbing? Well here goes nothing?" Cerdic said, all the while whispering to himself "Don't look down, don't look down, don't look down." As he started to attempt to climb the cliff.

Episode Tinarah: Part 15
A Change of Heart
​

During the time Tinarah had been staying in the mansion she had been made to join a patrol of soldiers, their armor dirtied and scratched so much that one could barely even tell that it used to be black. She had been given a chestplate, greaves, and a set of gauntlets to protect her along with a sword. Due to a shortage of armor that was all that could be spared for her. Patrols were straightforward, head to an area and clear out any Heartless. There was often a small amount of small talk within the group of five. The soldiers were tough but respectful towards Tinarah and willing to teach her whenever she had questions. When Tinarah was not on patrol Torrin had her going through training drills with the rest of the young soldiers and sparring with him in the mornings. Torrin never edged her on again like he had done previously.

On the day of Tinarah's last patrol, Torrin was waiting for the group to return. Upon bowing to greet him they were dismissed and told to return to their posts at the mansion. "It went well, I assume. If you're still up for joining the battle we're leaving in a few minutes. I just received word that the enemy forces have been cornered."

The minimal knowledge known about what happened to what Fost was protecting didn't sit well with Tinarah. It had clearly been very important, and not knowing where it was, she didn't like that. She wished that they had some idea at least, hopefully it wasn't lost with a world, she hoped Xine hid it well. After all it was her uncles legacy in a way and she didn't want it to go to waste.

Over the month it had been though on Tinarah. The constant training and patrolling had her always exhausted. She didn't have the energy to talk much with Mika after it all, often, eating and sleeping the moment that Torrin let her off patrol or training sessions. Tinarah didn't enjoy this kind of training, but it had kept her from crying herself to sleep past the first couple of nights. She just didn't have the energy. Her mood never really improved however, she was still quiet and withdrawn, still upset and lost. The training was structure much like the chores were, it helped get her through the days.

Finally after a month of training she was coming back from patrol, expecting to be shipped off to training shortly after, when Torrin stopped them. Unlike most there, Tinarah never felt the need to bow to Torrin or Mika. She often felt awkward when everyone else did it and she was just standing there, but the Torrin and Mika she used to know, they weren't a king or queen, they were her friends.

"Yeah, it went fine..." Tinarah responded quietly when Torrin continued to ask if she still willing to fight. "Yeah... I... Nothing has changed in the past month, I am a little more prepared maybe but I can't say that anything else is different." Referring to her sentiment on going to war, and not expecting to return. She was ready for whatever lay ahead of her, she just hoped in the end she could see her mom, Stamatis, and Fost on the other side.

"Well it'll have to be enough." Torrin stated, placed his hand on the sword strapped to his right side. Unlike the soldiers he refused to wear armor. He led Tinarah to the mansion courtyard where soldiers were starting to line up in formation equipped in full plate armor wielding swords, shields, bows, and spears. "No turning back." Torrin glanced at Tinarah before turning to speak to his men.

Two hours pass...​

The march from the mansion had been silent and tense. According to their information the enemy had been preparing an attack by stationing themselves nearby Torrin's headquarters, likely wishing to make an attempt on his life. That was, until they were found out and cornered. They reached a distant corner of Eventide, more ruined buildings littered the area and the only structure that remained to be still standing was what appeared to be an old stone clock tower. The clock itself seemed to have ceased working years ago, both of its hands now missing as well as most of the numbers. Torrin's soldiers, those who had found the location had surrounded the area and stood guard waiting for backup.

"If all goes well, there won't be a battle at all. Capture the leaders, force their side to surrender, then that's it. It's all over. I almost pity them...to lose with such a quiet end."

Tinarah followed Torrin, taking up place in the line of soldiers. She felt out of place and uncomfortable among them, but remained for her own sake. She felt like she needed to be there, so while having so many people there with her made her nervous, she wasn't able to do much about it. Torrin warned her there was no turning back, but Tinarah only managed to offer him a nod. She knew that, the moment she started her training she knew there was no turning back. Gripping on to her necklace for strength she turned and listened to Torrin speak.

The march there gave Tinarah time to think, to regret, to wonder. The silence was driving her insane due to the silence coming from many and not just her. She could feel the tension in the air, it weighed heavy on her, convincing her now more than ever she wouldn't return. Tinarah had wished she had a chance to say goodbye to Mika.

As they approached the clock tower, Torrin told them he believed that a big battle wouldn't be necessary if they caught the leader, and an odd sense of disappointment washed over Tinarah. Was she even needed here then? That that training, all the mental preparation for a simple task? She didn't know what to think of that. Tinarah offered a nod of understanding however as she touched her necklace once more before placing a hand on the pommel of her sword ready, just in case.

Torrin stepped forth, drawing his sword. Just then several people began to step out of the clock tower. Torrin stopped walking and raised an eyebrow. There was at least twenty people facing them now. They were being led by a young woman with black hair wielding a keyblade. Another young woman, a blonde, standing beside her wielded a keyblade with a heart-shaped guard.

"Master Thallasa, it is good to finally meet face to face. I've heard a great deal about you. Your mastery of battle strategy has kept me on the ropes for years." Torrin looked over at the blonde. "You must be Master Chrysanthemum. Your people call you Chrys, correct? And I suppose this ragtag bunch compose your strike force? Impressive. Masters Pagos, Dentro, Zeno, and Avra. It's a shame that your last leader, Gero never accepted my terms of surrender. I didn't enjoy putting him down. Even with all those keyblade, you don't think you can fight your way out of here, do you? Please, let us put an end to this now."

"Are you stupid? We fought this war because you gave us no other option! It was either fight or have our light purged from our hearts! You once wielded the keyblade, you fool. You should understand the balance of realms just as well as any of us!" Thallasa shouted at him readying herself for battle.

"You honestly think I give a damn about the light? How many of my people died because of it? Ages ago your people started a war with mine, I'm merely finishing what they started. Even Mikaela saw I was right."

"You disgust me!" Chrys spat at the floor, hate in her eyes. "What of the others you forced to be like you? Did they all survive your experiments!?"

"Am I supposed to feel sorry for them? Illiana, Koa, Take...and the others, they all came after me when they learned I wasn't one of them. Once again, your realm incited another war with mine and now you're trying to guilt trip me just because you're losing? The citizens of the Realm of Darkness have suffered long enough and it's time to snuff out the light. Surrender or so help me we'll strike you all down."


Master Thallasa? Wasn't that the master that had gone missing in her time line? And Chrys, that was the girl with Aria.What was going on here? Why was this all happening? What exactly was going on here? Tinarah, seeing a somewhat familiar face backed up a step, trying to blend in whith the other soldiers there. She wasn't convinced she wanted to fight these people anymore.

Chrys spat at him, something about experiments and Tinarah looked worried. He said there were things she needed to be prepared for before she saw her brother, but he never went into detail about that since she didn't want to see her brother. However this conversation, Tinarah gripped her necklace hard and nearly summoned her keyblade. There was no more heartless with these masters wielding a keyblade, hers shouldn't make a difference. However there was an issue with how Torrin might react.

Tinarah had a small voice as she looked to Torrin then to the Masters. "Torrin what are you guys talking about. What experiments? I thought you were restoring the balance. What are you doing? Snuff out the light? Is that why Aria didn't make it because she was a heart of light.... or something like that?" Tinarah asked biting her lower lip a littler scared that Torrin would turn around and attack her. She knew if that happened she wouldn't be able to defend herself, after training in the morning, patrol, and the march here, she was drained.

Torrin's intense stare down was interrupted by the sound of a meek voice beside him. He turned his head towards Tinarah. "A new balance, yes. Without the light persecuting the dark, there won't be any more deaths. The Heartless are perversions of the dark, once the war is over there will be nothing but peace."

Torrin's grip tightened on his blade as he returned to face the keyblade masters before him. The soldiers behind him readied their weapons for battle. "Aria's death was not by my hands. In fact, it was the enemy who tried to utilize her heart as a weapon. A move that failed. Now get ready to fight. They're not going to go down without a struggle."


Peace... in darkness? That was not what Master Stamatis would have wanted. Not what Uncle Fost would have wanted. The Masters who were preparing for battle, wasn't to fight with Torrin was it? It was to fight against it. Tinarah looked frightened as she looked back and forth for a moment, as Torrin gave the command to get ready to fight. Tinarah drew her sword but was not ready for the fight ahead of her. She stared at the other Masters, hoping they would talk her out of fighting before she started, but she didn't know if that would happen. "Tell me this... Uncle Fost... Master Stamatis... did they fight with you, or against you?"

Torrin's eyes flashed and for a moment he remained dead silent. He took in a deep breath and sighed out before finally speaking. "So this is how it is...Mikaela was wrong to convince me to trust you. I knew you were too soft." Before she could react Torrin struck Tinarah and everything went black.

As they stood outside Everette felt a small tug on his jacket. Looking down he saw a young girl standing their asking about them. Everette smiled at her but it was Conrad who answered for them. Meanwhile Everette ducked down to the girls level. "Yes we came to talk to the chief but heard there was lots of sick people in there. We were just trying to decide if we should go in or talk to him out here. What do you think. Will it disturb the sick people if we go in? We don't want to bother them while figuring out how to help." Perhaps the girl would have some insight on how they should go forward. She was young but she did live here and he had learned not to underestimate what the young picked up on, he had seen it enough in younger members of the guild that he never wrote them off as being possibly helpful. If she didn't have anything useful, then he didn't mind wasting the whole three minutes it took him to talk to her.


Thea didn't like being compared to some commoners little sister. She was a proud Strive and a Divine Rose wizard, not some local village kid. That being said she still just smiled at the girl and acted as though it didn't bother her at all. "Alright lets go!" She let Gavin do all the questioning as she marched forward slightly behind the young woman who was guiding them. Thea's eyes drifted around to some of the stalls but as soon as she noticed the peoples stares, she turned her attention straight ahead once more and kept walking with the group. She didn't like the looks she was getting.

As they approached a large building she started to hear children's laughter. Perhaps this was a school? Was everyone confused that she was out instead of at school perhaps? A ball came flying over the wall, and Gavin was nice enough to return it. Thea had considered grabbing the ball herself and tossing it over, but didn't know if she was strong enough that it would have actually made it over. "Maybe they are in school. Peasants do that don't they?" Thea suggested as a possible explanation. ​

The situation was ever getting worse as the crazy woman who saved then knocked down one of the students, holding her weapon to her neck, then dismissed two of their teammates. Auburn watched in tense silence, what the hell were they getting into with this woman? Why was Qrow trusting her when she was acting in such a way, yet he was trusting her regardless and it didn't sit well with Auburn. At least the woman had some useful information.

So they were to travel to temples, defeat sub guardian's and bring back relics to the correct temple it seemed. That wasn't too hard of a task she didn't think. Would they really need all of them there to do it? Two teachers and eight students against one person seemed a little much, but if they were to split up, perhaps they would get things done faster? Auburn wondered if that was Qrow's idea, but it hadn't been stated yet. She opened her mouth like she was about to talk but stopped herself. It was a simple enough plan, if Qrow hadn't said it he probably thought of it and dismissed it as a bad plan anyways, there was no need to embarrass herself like that. She was already embarrassed enough as it was. Thumbing her phone, once more she considered heading back to her father. She still didn't really know what to do here, but she had stayed so far, they couldn't afford to lose yet another person.

​

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»"Remind me to never get on her bad side." Arian mused as he watched how Noire responded to Lloyd questioning him. Arian walked up and offered Lloyd a hand up as soon as Noire backed off to explain everything else they were to do. "Are the Sub-Guardians hot? Please tell me at least one is hot. I mean if you are taking away two of our attractive party members you got to provide more." Arian stated as he looked at Noire, she would do fine too, but still he would like to know about such simple things. Answer or no though he wandered off soon after to collect his supplies, not that he had much to collect, but he could use a break. ​

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Episode Tinarah: Part 14
Your Training Intensifies
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Early that morning there came a knock at Tinarah's door. A dim light filtered through the windows. Dusk was as bright as it was going to get on this world. "Get ready." Torrin left a simple one-handed sword by her door. "You'll get fitted with some armor today too. But I think we have something already in your size."

Tinarah had still been in bed but was easily awoken by the knock on the door. Tinarah made quick work of getting ready, however still struggled a little bit with her new clothes, making sure the shirt was on right, and fretting over if it didn't fir well enough. After wasting too much time on this she grabbed the coat also given to her and slung it over her shoulder as she picked up the sword. She could put it on in a moment when they were getting ready to do something, but she didn't want to keep Torrin waiting any longer than she had to.

Tinarah emerged and followed Torrin. She shouldn't have been surprised that armour was involved, however she was never required to wear it in any other training, so to have to wear it now was odd. "Oh... Okay." Tinarah responded quietly. The conversation the previous night had Tinarah in an off mood again and she was struggling but making an effort to function like a regular person, or at least enough to start her training.

Torrin walked slowly, intending use the time to bring up something he thought about last night. "Adopting would be nice, to be honest. Though...there are some things they just wouldn't be able to inherit." He kept his eyes forward as he led her on. "But there were some names I liked. If I ever had a son I'd name him after my uncle, Joch. Or perhaps my father, Errin."

They soon reached the courtyard and the sounds of metal clashing against metal rang out in the distance due to the training exercises of his soldiers. Torrin kept walking until they reached a dirt circle outlined with rocks. Leaning against the nearby mansion wall were dulled swords set on a rack. Torrin picked one up and spun it in his hand. "If it were a girl...perhaps Emilee would suit her well. I understand that it's the name of your own mother, correct?"

Tinarah followed Torrin, the sound of the battle in the distance made her nervous. While she knew it was all just training, Tinarah also had not had to train alongside anyone else in a very long time. Her training had always been done with Stamatis in the solitude of the castle. No one was there to witness when she made a mistake or failed. This however was a different story.

Torrin spoke of their conversation the previous night, probably trying to be friendly and keep her from shutting out completely. Tinarah listened politely as they walked offering small nods as he explained... That was until he reached the name for a girl. Tinarah froze for a moment. She looked at Torrin at first surprised that he knew that, however then she remembered her brother was around, and likely spoke of it at some point. Tinarah hoped he wasn't in the mansion, she had been trying to avoid that subject for a while now.

"Yeah... It was. Though I don't know if you want to name your child after someone so whimsical and reckless as my mother." Tinarah said thinking to when her mother had sat her under a set of stairs, despite the blaring fire alarms and told her to wait until she returned... though she never did, Tinarah sooner found her brother sitting with her mothers corpse. It was just the start of people promising her things and then leaving her. And while Tinarah did love her mother, when she had a trait like that, she might not have been the ideal person to be naming your child after.

"Hm. Well Chrono never spoke much of her. Just about how you enjoyed his card tricks and this or that. He missed you a great deal." Torrin motioned towards Tinarah's sword. "Keep it raised, tip towards me." He instructed though he had a feeling she had some experience in this regard. He stepped into the circle, ready to spar though not making any advances.

"Do you resent your mother?" He questioned as he slowly began to circle Tinarah. "For being reckless? Or for something else?"

Tinarah had trained with a sword for a decent amount of time while trying to get her keyblade back, so she was no stranger to how it worked as got into fighting position, matching Torrin's steps.

"I don't.... I don't fully resent her... But the day she died, well it was the start of a lot of things wrong with me." Tinarah tried to explain, not quite sure how. "When I was little she left me under the stairs at an office building while fire alarms were going off. Soon the building was clear but she had not returned and I went looking. I found my brother hovering over her body trying to save her. I still get nightmares, and still don't understand why whatever she was searching for there was worth that danger. So in some ways I resent her, but I do love her. " Tinarah tried to explain before taking lead and advancing on the offense.

Torrin casually swatted Tinarah's sword away and pointed the tip of his sword at Tinarah's throat. "What kinds of things would you say are wrong with you?" Torrin asked before stepping back towards the edge of the circle to give the girl her space to form her next plan of attack. "Before I ever lost my family I had no confidence of my own. It was only until things looked their bleakest when I stepped up and rose to where I am. I may have grown colder because of it but I am stronger than I have ever been." Torrin motioned for Tinarah to come at him again.

Tinarah had thought she was doing well with her training, but the way she was casually swatted away made Tinarah question herself. However Torrin had more questions for her, questions that made her hesitate. "I um...." Tinarah wasn't sure she wanted to answer but finally she spoke more, lowering her sword as she did, at least for the time being. "I am so damn terrified every time someone leaves me, even for a short amount of time. All I can think of is how they are going to die... And they do! My mom did it. Then last time I saw Choma, he said it would be alright and he would be back... Next time I really heard of him again, he was dead. Master Stamatis and Uncle Fost promised I would be okay and they would see me in the future. They are gone too! When... When Chrono left to train I thought the same would happen to him, so I tried to follow. I can't get close to people anymore. The first time I tried since her death was with Stamatis and Fost and that back fired on me too!" It turned into more of a venting session rather than why her mom caused so many problems. "Sometimes I feel all she has taught me to do is hide while other people protect me. I don't know how to fight for myself. I am not strong like she was..." Tinarah expressed before raising her sword though she seemed less confident that before as she launched another attack on Torrin.

"Then why haven't you gotten angry about it? Why do you continue to look for ways to run? You seem to know exactly what the problem is yet you have done nothing. Are you going to stand there and continue to be the weak girl you have always been or are you going to do something about it?" He spoke, trying to get under her skin.

"You could be channeling that pain into something useful instead of using it as an excuse for your weaknesses." He began to approach her, stabbing at the air beside Tinarah's face almost grazing her with the edge of his sword before she would have even been able to react. "Why don't you fight? Prove to yourself that the sacrifices of everyone who came before you were not in vain!"

"I can't... I am not that kind of person. I am not the kind to get angry, I hate people getting angry." Tinarah continued trying to make excuses as he spoke. He continued to speak and she began to really hate the way he spoke to her, he seemed angry as he got closer to her and as she said she hated it. Tinarah took a step back and then another.

"I'm trying!" Tinarah attempted to defend herself as he stuck near her face and she was near ready to run from the ring. "Why do you think I offered to train! I am trying but I don't know how to just change who I am! My father was gentle, Master Stamatis was gentle, so am I! I can't just redirect anger that I don't have, or not in the form you seem to think it takes. So what do you want from me?!" Tinarah asked as she tried once more to strike him, trying to force Torrin back. With him being so close, trying to harm her, she couldn't take it. She had to at least do something.

Torrin tilted his head to the side and said nothing as Tinarah spoke first softly then she began to raise her voice. She lost her cool and struck at him again only for him to parry the blow just as quickly as he did the first time, stepping in closer to take hold of her right wrist with his free hand. He raised the sleeve of her sweater to reveal faded scars on her wrist. "And how did you get these? By accident? Or because you didn't have the power to defend yourself?" He pushed her back, releasing his grip on her wrist.

"Your teachers were wrong to be soft. Were the hardships you faced so kind to you? No. Of course not." His eyes narrowed at Tinarah. "No enemy will ever be soft on you. Somewhere within you is anger yet untapped. You do not know it but I see it in your eyes. So don't just sit there and wait for death. Seize your life!"

Torrin grabbed her wrist and Tinarah tried to yank back, however he was much stronger than she was. He pulled back her sleeve and she was left looking at the scars that remained from when Choma had to save her. "I was twelve. You know the first thing I asked Master Stamatis to train me in was? I asked to learn how to defend myself. It has been nearly six years and this is as far as I got. It isn't from lack of trying." Tears stung her eyes at Torrin continued to yell at her.

Finally something in Tinarah snapped, but it wasn't necessarily in the way that Torrin wanted. "I am not sitting there waiting for death.... I... I am seeking it. Look I know I am not strong, and I am useless. Maybe I should have died like Chrono wanted me to all those years ago, but I didn't. I don't think I can rebuild a life but I am not going to wait for death either, I will die doing something I can be proud of myself for doing." She retorted as the tears steamed down her face freely as she stepped back away from Torrin pulling her sleeve back over her wrist. "Are we done here?"

Torrin raised an eyebrow and smiled faintly on seeing Tinarah snap. "Good. It takes a certain kind of person to admit something like that. Don't sell yourself short, Tinarah. I'll have use of you yet." He held up his sword, yet again motioning for her to continue. He was not willing to just let her go and give up. "Stamatis likely could not have taught you anymore. It wasn't your failing, it was his. Some teaching styles simply aren't compatible with certain students. Tell me, was there any sudden progress you made when he attempted switching teaching styles? Surely he would have tried something had he seen you struggling."

Torrin smiled at her a second Tinarah hated it, hate the look of success on his face. It didn't feel like a win for her, simply and other large gash, a wound opening up in her heart, tormenting her more.

Any big change in style? Tinarah had to think, until she remembered when she got her keyblade. She was frightened to tell Torrin about it. That training session had scared her more than anything else she had done with him. She didn't want to go through it again, and yet... She didn't think she could lie. "y-yes... Just for the day though. After two and a half years I still couldn't summon my keyblade. He took me... We were close to the darkness, and he let the heartless attack, hurt me, until I was so desperate I would even fall back to my old ways and called for Chronos help to survive.... His keyblade came to me then and I have been forced to use it ever since." Tinarah admitted.

Torrin raised an eyebrow, intrigued by this story Tinarah had told him. "So you're not even using your own keyblade. That's unexpected." He scratched his chin and thought for a moment. "Perhaps going that far was a mistake but you never made any real progress by someone being soft on you." He spoke his thought aloud.

"Mikaela used to be as...squishy on the inside as you. Nearly as much. Time in a rough place and understanding the importance of a heavy hand lessened that weakness so that may be all you need. You will spar against me every morning, even if it means ignoring the pain of a few cuts and bruises, and you're going to spend the rest of your free time on patrol with my knights clearing out Heartless without the help of your keyblade." He paused for a moment. "I'm sorry for the pain I caused you but you're going to need to toughen up. Nothing around here is going to stop at leaving a few scratches on you. Just about everything and everyone left out there wants to kill you. Getting yourself killed in a stupid way is a dishonor to everyone who ever cared about you."

She knew she couldn't use her keyblade... But the thought of being without it. It scared her quite a bit. She was used to routine and hard work, Stamatis always gave her routine, but it was never fighting, he had her doing chores and tasks for him. Being on patrol... Being on patrol with complete strangers bothered her.

"I- I guess." She stammered feeling small under Torrins gaze. "But if I do it... Can you do me a favour? I just need to know..." she started asking. It was the say before Tinarah thought of Fost's own student. She hadn't the courage to hear the answer no, but she was walking into a situation which she didn't know if she would survive through, so perhaps she had to try. "Check that list for a master named Xine please. He should have been a master at least, he was Uncle Fost's student, when Master Stamatis was training me. If he isn't dead I want to talk to him." Tinarah blurted out with a surprising amount of confidence for her.

"Xine? That's a name I recognize. He's alive but...barely. He fell into a deep sleep after being wounded in battle. His condition is stable as far as I know but if you wish to see him, that can be easily arranged. It will have to wait until after the battle, however. We can't bring him here without harming him and we can't take you to him without drawing Heartless to the hospital he's at. Who knows? Perhaps by then he'll have awoken and fully recovered by then. But for now, you will need to train. And train hard."

"So even if we went to see him now... I can't talk to him?" Tinarah sounded disappointed. She clearly wanted to talk to him. "I guess it can wait then... but what about the thing he was supposed to be protecting. Master Stamatis said when the time came it would help bring balance between light and darkness. Isn't that what is needed now? Was Xine able to use it? Or perhaps Uncle Fost. I don't really know what it was, but it was apparently the reason that Fost was unable to train me and sent me to Stamatis." Tinarah continued on to try and explain what little she knew of the situation. "I just... I just need to know if Uncle Fost was okay when I didn't show up. If he was worried or if he had forgotten all about me... I am sorry. I just need to know." Tinarah argued, continuing to show just how soft she was, compared to how most people seemed around here. She wasn't nearly the fighter that she needed to be to help fight, and yet, still she wanted to try.

"I'm surprised you know of it. Whatever power it holds doesn't really matter right now. Xine was wounded before he could use it and I believe his last act before we found him was to hide it away. Perhaps for good measure. I don't know what kind of damage items of such power could do in the wrong hands. I'm sorry. Rest assured, he's in the best care. So please, get some rest. These next few weeks are going to be tough on you and you will need to be focusing on yourself more than anything else."

One month passes...
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